Interviews

Featured

RUSSIA: 'Any tactic that protesters use will likely be banned and declared a crime'

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about anti-war protests and the growing restrictions on civic space in Russia with Nelya Rakhimova, coordinator of the Coalition for Sustainable Development of Russia (CSDR).
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POLAND: ‘If lots of tiny actions are performed by many people, we can achieve big things’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Magdalena Demczak, co-founder and director of Akcja Menstruacja (Menstrual Action), about the work her organisation is currently doing to help Ukrainian refugees.
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ALGERIA: ‘The authorities are arresting human rights defenders to suffocate civil society’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the situation of human rights and civic freedoms in Algeria with Rachid Aouine, Director for SHOAA for Human Rights.
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CHILE: ‘The drafting of the new constitution is a historic opportunity for women’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Mariela Infante Erazo, director of Corporación Humanas, about the impacts of the pandemic on women and girls in Chile, and about her hopes for advances coming from the inauguration of a new government and the process to develop a new constitution.
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LEBANON: ‘Abuses against women are the direct product of the gender imbalances of a patriarchal society’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Iraqi women and girls and civil society’s role in combatting gender inequalities in Lebanon with Ghida Anani, founder and director of ABAAD – Resource Centre for Gender Equality.
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TURKMENISTAN: ‘There is nothing resembling real civil society – and no conditions for it to emerge’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Farid Tukhbatullin, founder and director of the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR), about the upcoming election and the environment for civil society in Turkmenistan.
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YEMEN: ‘Women are completely absent from decision-making bodies; politically we don’t exist’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about gender inequalities in Yemen and the role of Yemeni civil society in tackling them with Bilkis Abouosba, founder and chairperson of the Awam Foundation for Development and Culture, a civil society organisation (CSO) founded in 2008 to support women’s political participation.
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MEXICO: ‘Human rights defenders constantly put their freedom and their lives at risk’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Antonio Lara Duque, a human rights lawyer with the Zeferino Ladrillero Human Rights Centre (CDHZL), about the situation of Indigenous rights defenders in Mexico, and specifically about the situation of Kenia Hernández, a criminalised and unjustly imprisoned woman Indigenous leader.
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CHILE: ‘Domestic and care work still falls overwhelmingly on women’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about International Women’s Day and civil society’s role in combatting gender inequalities in Chile with Cecilia Ananías Soto, founder of Amaranta, an independent civil society organisation (CSO) based in the Chilean city of Concepción, in the Biobío region.
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TURKEY: ‘We continue to organise and demonstrate so that no voice is left unheard’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about International Women’s Day and Turkish civil society’s role in eliminating gender inequality with the team of the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, a Turkish civil society organisation (CSO) aimed at ending femicide and ensuring women are protected from violence.
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ZAMBIA: ‘Our aim is to break societal biases against girls’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the upcoming International Women’s Day and Zambian civil society’s role in advancing women’s and girls’ rights with Pamela Mateyo and Mwape Kapepula, co-founders of WingEd Girls.
Featured

IRAQ: ‘We've submitted many bills, but parliament refuses to adopt a law against GBV’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about International Women’s Day and civil society’s role in combatting gender inequalities and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Iraqi women and girls with Alyaa Al Ansari, executive director of Bent Al-Rafedain Organisation (BROB).
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AUSTRIA: ‘Unfortunately, times of crisis have rarely proven to be a catalyst for gender equality’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about International Women’s Day and civil society’s role in combatting gender-based violence (GBV) in Austria with Hannah Steiner and Sophie Hansal of the Network of Austrian Counselling Centres for Women and Girls.
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PAKISTAN: ‘As a result of patriarchal norms, women experience discrimination at all levels’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the upcoming International Women’s Day and Pakistani civil society’s role in eliminating inequality and malnutrition with Farrah Naz, country director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
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SYRIA: ‘The pandemic added another layer to women’s diminished access to healthcare’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the upcoming International Women’s Day and Syrian civil society’s role in eliminating gender inequality with Maria Al Abdeh, executive director of Women Now for Development (WND), a Syrian civil society organisation (CSO) aimed at fostering a democratic, free and just society in which women can play meaningful roles and reach their full potential.
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POLAND: ‘Abortion rights will inevitably be at the forefront of this year’s International Women’s Day’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the upcoming International Women’s Day and Polish civil society’s role in advancing women’s rights with the team of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR).
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UK: ‘Education can equip the next generation to disrupt the culture of gender-based violence’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the upcoming International Women’s Day and UK civil society’s role in eliminating gender inequality with the team of Bold Voices, a social enterprise that seeks to create spaces for young people to discuss and share experiences of gender inequality and gender-based violence.
Featured

AUSTRIA: ‘If anything changed for women under the pandemic, it was for the worse’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the upcoming International Women’s Day and civil society’s role in combatting gender inequality in Austria with Judith Goetz, a political analyst and scholar who studies gender and right-wing extremism.
Featured

ZIMBABWE: ‘Young women should be at the centre of discussion of the issues affecting them’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the upcoming International Women’s Day and Zimbabwean civil society’s role in eliminating gender inequality with Margaret Mutsamvi, Director of the Economic Justice for Women Project (EJWP).
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BULGARIA: ‘Women’s rights organisations are working together towards the goal of a feminist Europe’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the upcoming International Women’s Day and Bulgarian civil society’s role in eliminating gender-based violence (GBV) with Iliana Balabanova, founder and president of the Bulgarian Platform of the European Women’s Lobby (BPEWL).
Featured

MYANMAR: ‘If we fail to take appropriate action, the junta will commit more crimes’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Kyaw Win, founder and Executive Director of the Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN), about the situation in Myanmar one year after the coup.
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EL SALVADOR: ‘Patriarchal justice persecutes, tortures and abuses women’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Sara García Gross about the recent judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) against the Salvadoran state, and the struggle of Salvadoran women for the right to abortion.
Featured

PHILIPPINES: ‘We will make sure that human rights are on the electoral agenda’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about civil society responses to the growing restrictions on civic space in the Philippines with Nymia Pimentel Simbulan, Chairperson of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) and Executive Director of the Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PhilRights).
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UK: ‘For women to be respected, police reform is necessary but not sufficient’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Anna Birley, co-founder of Reclaim These Streets, policy lead at the Co-operative Party and councillor in the London borough of Lambeth.
Featured

NICARAGUA: ‘María Esperanza’s case is part of a growing process of criminalisation of social protest’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Ana Lucía Álvarez, Nicaragua officer of the Mesoamerican Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders (IM-Defensoras), about the case of María Esperanza Sánchez, unjustly imprisoned in Nicaragua since March 2020, and the ongoing campaign for her release.
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CHILE: ‘There is social consensus that the arbitrary exclusion of diverse families is unacceptable’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Marco Becerra, director of ACCIONGAY, about the process leading to the recent passage of Chile’s Equal Marriage Law.
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INDIA: ‘The government is dealing with dissent in very concerning ways’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks Sudha Bharadwaj, a lawyer and long-time human rights defender working for the rights of workers and Indigenous peoples in India.
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SERBIA: ‘We are not just fighting locally; we are sending a message to the world’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the recent protests against the exploration and licensing of lithium mining – for use in batteries, including electric vehicle batteries – in Serbia with Miroslav Mijatović, activist and president of the Podrinje Anti-Corruption Team (PAKT).
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PERU: ‘Environmental regulations were relaxed, when they should have been strengthened’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the recent oil spill off the coast of Lima, Peru, with Juan Carlos Sueiro, Director of Fisheries at Oceana, the world’s largest international organisation dedicated to protecting and restoring the world’s oceans.
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BOLIVIA: ‘To exercise our rights, Indigenous peoples don’t need anyone’s permission’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the struggles of Indigenous peoples in Bolivia with Ruth Alipaz Cuqui, an Indigenous leader from the Bolivian Amazon and general coordinator of the National Coordination for the Defence of Indigenous Peasant Territories and Protected Areas (CONTIOCAP).
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KAZAKHSTAN: ‘No economic or social reform will bring real change unless there is also serious political reform’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the recent protests in Kazakhstan and the state’s repressive response with Yevgeniy Zhovtis, a prominent human rights lawyer and director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR).
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KENYA: ‘Holding police officers accountable for killings in a court of law will be the main deterrent’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about police brutality in Kenya with Joseph Kariuki, Communications and Media Lead of International Justice Mission and editor of the Missing Voices project.
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HAITI: ‘The international community has never addressed the root causes of the crisis’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Nixon Boumba, a human rights activist and member of Kolektif Jistis Min nan Ayiti (Haiti Justice in Mining Collective), about the political situation in Haiti following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
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TUNISIA: ‘Civil society is not yet under direct threat, but we believe that our turn is coming’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the prospects for democracy in Tunisia following the president’s July 2021 power grab with Amine Ghali, director of Al Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center (KADEM).
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RUSSIA: ‘We hope that social media companies will avoid becoming a censorship tool’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about increasing civic space restrictions in Russia with Denis Shedov, a lawyer and analyst at OVD-Info, an independent human rights civil society organisation (CSO) that recently experienced the blockage of its website by the Russian authorities.
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SAN MARINO: ‘There was an overwhelming demand for women to gain the right to choose’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Sara Casadei, vice-president of Noi Ci Siamo San Marino (‘We are here San Marino’), about the referendum on abortion rights held in San Marino on 26 September 2021.
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CZECH REPUBLIC: ‘We believe that the new government will defend democratic principles’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the recent Czech elections with Marie Jahodová, Executive Director of Million Moments for Democracy, a civil society organisation working to support democracy in the Czech Republic and Europe by fostering civic participation, the accountability of elected representatives and democratic debate.
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SUDAN: ‘The government and the international community must engage more with civil society’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the prospects for democracy and civilian rule in Sudan with Abdel-Rahman El Mahdi, founder and director of the Sudanese Development Initiative (SUDIA).
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PARAGUAY: ‘As long as land remains in private hands, conflict will continue '

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Alicia Amarilla, national coordinator of the Organisation of Peasant and Indigenous Women (CONAMURI) in Paraguay about conflicts over land rights between the state, the private sector and Indigenous communities.
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PALESTINE: ‘The counter-terrorism law is used to restrict political work in Palestine & shrink civic space in Israel’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Einat Fogel-Levin, International Advocacy Coordinator for the Human Rights Defenders Fund (HRDF), about growing restrictions on Palestinian civil society.
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Denmark: ‘There is a focus on protecting borders rather than people’s rights’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Charlotte Slente, Secretary General of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), about recent immigration policy changes and the rights of refugees in Denmark.
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HAITI: ‘There is opportunity for a meaningful shift from foreign interference to true leadership of Haitian people’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Ellie Happel, professor of the Global Justice Clinic and Director of the Haiti Project at New York University School of Law.
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VENEZUELA: ‘We need a multilateral, flexible and creative approach from the international community’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Feliciano Reyna, founder and president of Acción Solidaria, a Venezuelan civil society organisation (CSO) established in 1995 with the mission to contribute to reducing the social impact of the HIV epidemic.
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CHILE: ‘For the first time the extremes are inside the parliament and there are unacceptable undemocratic voices’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Alberto Precht, executive director of Chile Transparente, about Chile’s presidential elections and their persistent pattern of low electoral turnout.
Featured

POLAND: ‘right-wing backlash is just one side of the coin, the other being the active mobilisation of rights-oriented civil society’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Krzysztof Śmiszek, a member of the Polish Parliament and chair of the Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBTI Rights, the first of its kind in Poland, about the situation of LGBTQI+ rights and activist responses to the anti-rights backlash.
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UNITED NATIONS: ‘Civil society has always been an integral part of the UN ecosystem’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Natalie Samarasinghe, Chief Executive Officer of the United Nations Association UK (UNA-UK) about the UN Secretary-General’s recent ‘Our Common Agenda’ report and the need to include civil society voices in the UN.
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COP26: ‘Much more money is being invested in destroying the planet than in saving it’

Interviews
The 26th United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP26) has just ended in Glasgow, UK, and CIVICUS continues to interview civil society activists, leaders and experts on the outcomes of the summit, its potential to solve the environmental challenges they face and the actions they are taking to address them.
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NICARAGUA: ‘For the government, these fraudulent elections were a total failure’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the recent elections in Nicaragua, characterised by the banning of candidates, fraud and repression, with a woman human rights defender from a national platform of Nicaraguan civil society, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
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SWITZERLAND: ‘It was about time for everybody to have the same rights, with no discrimination’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Reto Wyss, International Affairs Officer of Pink Cross, about the recent referendum on same-sex marriage in Switzerland and the challenges ahead.
Featured

SWITZERLAND: ‘The victory of marriage equality will boost our efforts towards the next steps’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Jessica Zuber, co-leader of Operation Libero’s marriage for all campaign, about the recent referendum on same-sex marriage in Switzerland.

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